Tesla appears to be nearing a preliminary deal with Indonesia to set up an electric vehicle (EV) plant in Indonesia, after a long process of discussions between the company and the country.
Indonesia and Tesla could be closing on a deal very soon for the upcoming EV plant, according to people familiar with the matter, reports Bloomberg.
The plant would aim to produce roughly one million cars per year, the sources said, as Tesla continues to target the figure at each of its factories around the world.
During last year’s shareholder meeting, Elon Musk said Tesla wants to build 10-12 Gigafactories worldwide with capacities of 1-2 million cars annually, to meet its goal of making 20 million cars per year.
Tesla has yet to sign a deal with Indonesia, meaning the agreement could still fall through without an inked contract, according to the people.
Watch Elon Musk Speak at Indonesia’s B20 Conference [VIDEO] https://t.co/vBkegpGj8O
— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) November 14, 2022
Additionally, Tesla’s discussions with the country’s government could include multiple facilities across both production and the supply chain, one of the sources stated.
The news comes after Indonesia has been attempting to woo Tesla into building a factory there for several months, going back and forth as the country has encouraged the automaker to create a full EV factory, rather than just a battery production facility.
The Indonesian government received an investment proposal from Tesla as far back as a couple of years ago, according to confirmation from one government official in 2020.
Update: Elon Musk said later on Wednesday, “Please be cautious about writing articles citing “unnamed sources”, as they are frequently false,” in a response to @EvaFoxU, a writer for Tesmanian.com (use coupon TESLANORTH to save 10% off); he didn’t deny the report outright, however.
Please be cautious about writing articles citing “unnamed sources”, as they are frequently false
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 11, 2023
